Review process

According to Johan Huizinga’s ethics of play, a game can only be enjoyed by all players involved when the rules of the game are transparent and when the game consists of a level playing field. IMC aims to respect this ethos of playing with a procedure of open peer review. IMC utilizes pre-publication open peer review and post-publication open peer commentary, and opens up review reports and the identity of reviewers. It works as follows.

First, authors are invited to publish a preprint on Research Equals, a platform for scholarly collaboration and open peer review, where the discussion will be initiated among peers. One can post the completed version i.e. preprint, one can also begin publishing specific parts (or modules).

The second step commences when the author informs the editorial board that the article approaches finalization. An expert-editor of the editorial board is appointed to reflect on the soundness of scholarly work, with open visor and identity (in contrast to blind peer review). This editor will reflect on 1. the added value of the content for the scholarly field, 2.  the soundness of argumentation, 3. (the completeness of) sources, 4. overall style/readability and 5. scientific and moral integrity of the work against the background of the Code of Conduct of Tilburg University. This procedure can lead to a rejection, a request for revision, or acceptation.

After acceptance, the article will be published in the online journal environment of Into the Magic Circle. The review report of an accepted article will also be published openly on Research Equals, as part of further post print discussion.